Dear John’s Letter
October 12th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
This is just too precious. John Wilder, the (former) CEO of TXU, is now, after the sale of his former employer, unemployed and $270 million richer. With time on his hands and money to burn, Wilder has come up with a “life list,” what mere mortals refer to as a “to-do list.” Seriously, the Dallas Morning News reported on it earlier today. Here’s Wilder’s list, with some suggestions from us in italics:
• Get passionate about a specific cause, work on it over the long term and measure progress to see if improvements are being made instead of just thinking about it or contributing money to it.
We agree with this one. Greed is good… But giving back is better. So why not take all us regular folk, your loyal customers, out for an ice-cream soda? Or better yet, how about taking up the cause of the working class in Texas who are getting hammered by high electricity rates? We can fit you for an “Eat the Rich” shirt and send you down to the Lege to lobby for consumer rights.
• Learn to speak a foreign language and make sure to use it.
You’ve already mastered the foreign language of corporate double-speak and you’ve certainly shown us you know how to use it.
• Read the Bible cover to cover.
Good choice, but I would skip over all the rich-man-camel-eye-of-needle stuff. You also might take a pass at all that jazz about the meek and poor inheriting the earth. The Jesus lectures are kind of a drag too.
• Sit on a jury.
John, the American justice system requires a “jury of your peers,” not a “jury of your betters.” Too bad you weren’t available for Kenny Boy’s trial.
• Rent a rustic lake cabin and take my younger son to water ski; I’ve not been very good at that over the last few years. I’m also considering renting a houseboat to stay on the lake for a full week.
Renting a houseboat? For a week? On the lake? Wow, if I had $270 million, I wouldn’t be slumming it. I’d buy a yacht with a lake on it, fill it full of money, and go swimming.
• Learn to ballroom dance (Susan’s goal, not mine, but I’m agreeing).
You’ve mastered the Limbo - how low can you go?
• Ride a camel in the desert (probably not the camel’s goal; we’ll see if he’s agreeing).
He agrees that a middle-aged American man in an expensive business suit crossing numerous time zones in a personal jet in order to fulfill some corner-office daydream fantasy of riding a camel is a little weird.
• Attend the Olympics, hopefully the one in China.
We hear they’ve added a new sport, the Utility CEO Sprint - a 100 meter dash from the SEC.
• Write thank-you letters to people who have meant a lot to me over the years: coaches, teachers, bosses, etc.
Don’t forget all the little peoplewho made you rich - Walter in Dallas who sacrificed his prescription medication one month so he could pay his utility bill. And Francis in Waco, the grandmother of five who stuck with TXU even though her electricity bill doubled in two years. And the Johnson family in Nacogdoches, who generously went without heat this winter so they could keep up their monthly payments. God bless ‘em, every one!
